From average to Band 6: How I "Hacked" HSC Chemistry (Even Though I Was Lazy)
I was a terrible student. Unlike my selective school peers, I didn’t have the advantages that come from being in a highly educated family. My family had fled war and genocide to come to Australia with nothing but what they could hold in their pockets.
If you had met me in my Year 10 science class and someone told you, "This kid is going to get a Band 6 in HSC Chemistry," you probably would have laughed. I was a solid grade C student who sat at the back of the classroom pretending to listen while I played Pokemon Showdown on my phone.
There is a common misconception that to do well in high school science, you have to be a "natural genius." We often think that the top scorers are the ones who instinctively understand how the universe works.
I am living proof that this isn't true.
My journey to a Band 6 didn't start with high distinctions. It started with a C grade, a lot of confusion, and a complete inability to understand what was written on the whiteboard.
The Struggle: When Science Looked Like Gibberish
Back in Year 10, I was a firmly below-average student. I remember sitting in class while the teacher explained stoichiometry, looking around at my classmates nodding their heads, and wondering if I was the only one who felt like I was reading a foreign language.
My biggest enemy? Balancing chemical equations.
It seemed simple enough in theory—make the left side equal the right side—but every time I tried, the numbers just didn't add up. I would stare at the page until my eyes glazed over. I was convinced that chemistry just wasn't for me.
Step 1: Building the Foundation
I knew I was drowning, so I eventually looked for help. I enrolled in a local science tutoring centre.
This was the first turning point. The tutors there took the time to break down the concepts in a systematic way that my school teachers rushed through. Things started making sense. I finally got the logic behind the periodic table.
However, my Year 11 half yearly marks were still mediocre.
I had the foundational understanding, but I had no idea how to translate that into marks. I would walk into an exam feeling like I knew the content, but when I saw a tricky exam question, my mind would go blank. I understood the chemistry, but I didn't know how to study for the test.
The "Lazy" Revelation: Why I Stopped Making Notes
All the "good" students had beautiful, colour-coded notebooks. They spent hours rewriting notes and highlighting. I didn’t even own a textbook, nor had I ever bothered to make notes. I was busy grinding the League of Legends ranks.
Because I was too lazy to write notes, I looked for a shortcut. I decided to just pick up a past paper and try to do it.
I failed miserably. I lost marks on almost every written question.
But then, something interesting happened. Because getting a question wrong was frustrating, I was driven to research the content and write down the content for next time. I after searching up the correct method, it actually stuck in my brain. When I picked up the next past paper and saw a similar question, I remembered exactly how I messed it up the first time, and I got it right.
I realized that active failure was better than passive reading.
The Strategy: Grinding Papers and Group Study
Leading up to the HSC exams, I made a radical decision. I didn’t make a single note.
Instead, I adopted a strategy of pure past papers:
The Past Paper Spam: I downloaded every past paper I could find. When doing them, I treated them like puzzles, not tests.
The "Feedback Loop": If I didn't know an answer, I would look up the content in my class work books, then research the topic in-depth online to ensure I understood the science. I then looked at the marking guidelines to see exactly what the examiners wanted.
Group Warfare: I couldn't do it alone. I started studying in a group with friends. Back then, our study hub of choice was the WSU Parramatta Central Campus with its icy aircon and comfy chairs. We would sit around a table, do the papers separately, and then argue about the answers. Explaining an answer to a friend (or having them explain it to me) forced me to articulate my understanding. If I could explain why an answer was correct to someone else, I knew I had mastered the concept.
The Result and The Takeaway
When the HSC results came out, I saw that Band 6 next to Chemistry. The kid who couldn't balance a simple equation in Year 10 had cracked the top band.
Why am I sharing this story?
I want you to know that you don't have to be a genius to achieve top marks in school.
It’s okay to struggle initially. Your Year 10 marks do not dictate your Year 12 ATAR.
Get the right help. You need a foundation first. Once you understand the concepts, it’s all about learning how to play the "game" of the exam.
Use high leverage study methods. Inefficient studying is harder and gets you less results. With high leverage study methods (like spamming past papers), you can do less work and achieve high marks.
If you’re interested in learning the most effective study methods to achieve more with less effort, I made a free guide available here.
- James
